


AC20 Day 6: Across The Country

by The_Rose



Series: Rose's Advent Calendar 2020 [6]
Category: Warcraft - All Media Types, World of Warcraft
Genre: Bodyguard AU, F/M, Family Reunions, Follow up, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:42:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27920953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Rose/pseuds/The_Rose
Summary: Maiev gets waken up around 4 in the morning by Illidan. Today, it's the yearly meeting with his brother's family and he almost forgot about it.(Follow up from: "AC19 Day 21: The After-Party".)
Relationships: Illidan Stormrage & Malfurion Stormrage, Illidan Stormrage & Tyrande Whisperwind, Maiev Shadowsong/Illidan Stormrage, Malfurion Stormrage/Tyrande Whisperwind
Series: Rose's Advent Calendar 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036257
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	AC20 Day 6: Across The Country

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!
> 
> For today, we are back into the Bodyguard AU, because I really, really like it and I still have a few ideas for it. I can already tell that there will be a fourth part, and more than probably more over the years ^^
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Behind the windows of the train, the landscape was quickly moving and Maiev glanced through it before putting back her attention to the carriage. With her piercing eyes, she looked at everybody else sharing the place with them, making sure that they were minding their own business and weren’t caring about the couple.

“Calm down,” whispered Illidan, leaning against her. “We still have a few hours of travel before us, if you continue like that, you will exhaust yourself.”

He chuckled lightly as he adjusted himself against Maiev, closing his eyes to rest.

“That’s my job,” she whispered back, exasperated. “And get away, we’re in public.”

Despite having his eyes closed, Illidan rolled his eyes. As he straightened up a little, he went to her ear.

“Maybe, but if you keep acting like that, people will notice that you’re probably a bodyguard, meanwhile, if we act like a couple, they won’t even look at me twice. Makes your job easier, no?”

Saying that, she could hear his grin as he was pointing a pretty good point, and she sighed loudly as she lifted her arm, inviting him to snuggle against her. Obviously, Illidan jumped to the occasion and went to hug her, ready to rest for most of the trip, and enjoying it even more as he was with Maiev. She only sighed as she began to pass her fingers in his hair, a faint smile spreading across her face.

Behind closed doors, they were together and loving each other. In public, he was a famous actor and she was just his bodyguard, forbidden from having any kind of relationship with her client. Besides that they knew that they were playing a dangerous game, they couldn’t stop themselves from staying away. No matter how hard they tried, now that they were aware of their feelings, they were always ending up cuddling in each other's arms and wishing that they could like that for all eternity.

As Illidan fell asleep, Maiev scrolled through her phone, her hand gently caressing his head and neck.

After a good two hours, he finally woke up, stretching in his seat and yawning loudly. He slowly looked around, as if he needed to remember where he had fallen asleep, but as soon as he saw Maiev, he smiled at her and brought his face to hers to get a kiss. She quickly put a hand between them and glared at him, clearly telling him that it wasn’t the time for that. He groaned and went to lean against the windows, his arms crossed and pouting as he looked away. Then, as he checked what the next stop of the train was, he looked at the hour on his phone.

“Hey, Maiev, there’s still quite some time before we reach our destination,” he said to her. “Why don’t you take a nap? I will keep an eye open for you.”

“You know I can’t,” she sighed.

“Yeah, yeah, your job,” he sighed back. “But tell me, are there any threats here? Something dangerous?”

Maiev quickly glanced through the carriages again, perfectly knowing that he was right and that there wouldn’t be any problems if she was taking a nap at that moment.

“No, it’s relatively safe,” she admitted.

“So, please, just rest,” he asked, opening his arms as an invitation. “After we get out of this train, we will still need to drive for a while before getting there. So, please, do that for me.”

Aware that she couldn’t win against him, especially when he was voicing his concerns for her and looking cute while doing that, she groaned and reluctantly leaned against him as he hugged her. He put a light kiss over her head and she rolled her eyes, despite that she was loving it, and slowly, she closed them, allowing herself to fall asleep in his arms.

“So, now that we are like, five hours away from your flat, are you going to tell me what we are doing?” Maiev asked, glancing at the GPS to be sure that she was on the right road. “Because, being forced awake in really early in the morning, with just you yelling that we need to leave right now, it’s not a good way to start the day.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Illidan nervously scratched his neck. “I had completely forgotten which date it was until the calendar reminder rang this morning…”

“Doesn’t tell me why we need to visit your brother.”

“Oh… It’s because it’s Shandris’ birthday.”

Maiev frowned as she listened to the little device and signalized that she was going to turn towards the right.

“Shandris? Who’s that?”

“She’s their daughter,” simply answered Illidan.

Maiev’s eyebrows furrowed as she realized that she had no idea about it, but she also realized that Illidan was barely talking about his brother at all, and she was even thinking that he hadn’t a good relationship with him. So, knowing that he would make the trip just for his niece’s birthday was surprising to her.

“I should warn you,” he suddenly added. “She’s adopted.”

“Oh… Really?”

“Yeah… Quite an awful story when we think about it,” he began to explain. “Her biological parents got into a car accident, a pretty bad one, and she was in the car with them. The dad died on the spot, and the mom had been put in an artificial coma upon arrival at the hospital. Shandris had been the luckiest and only ended up with a broken arm.”

“That’s… Damn…” could only comment Maiev.

“And it’s not over,” groaned Illidan. “So, the mom was in a comatose state and obviously, the hospital went to search after her family to tell them what happened, and also, they needed to know what to do with the little girl.”

Illidan made a break, breathing deeply as he braced himself.

“Turned out that the mom had run away long ago to marry the dad, against the wishes of her family and since, she had been disowned and from what Malf told me, they didn’t even think twice before telling the hospital that they could let the mom die. And I’m not even talking about Shandris… They didn’t want anything to do with the girl either. Mind you, she wasn’t even a baby or a toddler, she was like… eight or nine at that time.”

“What?! But that’s…”

“Yeah, I told you, awful story. Anyway, Shandris was now an orphan with no family. But Malf, who had taken care of her arm, was also feeling revolted about the situation, and he tried to appease the little girl by talking to her and changing her mind from the catastrophe that had touched her. And the more time they spent together, the more they got along. So, when it became obvious for him that he wanted to take care of her, he presented her to Tyrande, and thankfully, it clicked between them and they went through the procedure to adopt her.”

“Oh… Good then,” Maiev sighed with relief.

“And how old is she now?”

“Fifteen today.”

Maiev smiled, despite that she hadn’t heard about that girl until now, and that she hadn’t met her yet, she was feeling relieved that she was in a loving family for a few years now. As the GPS was announcing that they were close to their destination, Maiev quickly pulled on a small country road, leaving the main road to reach a big house hidden in the middle of a plain. Once again, she couldn’t stop thinking about how Illidan and his twin were doing the complete opposite of each other.

As a doctor, Malfurion was looking after the others, while Illidan, as an actor, was being looked at. Malfurion was living in a big house in the countryside, Illidan in a small flat in the middle of a busy city. As she had learned that day, Malfurion was a father and he had been in a relationship for years, while she and Illidan had been together for only a few weeks, and they hadn’t even thought about the possibility of a family besides themselves. Even physically they were different, mostly with Illidan's infamous baby face unable to grow a beard, while his twin had no problem.

And yet, despite those differences, Illidan had traveled through the country for hours just to be there for his niece’s birthday, and probably to be able to see his brother and his wife once in the year. After all, with Illidan's busy schedule, it wasn’t easy for him to make the trip to see his brother, and Malfurion, with his job as a doctor, couldn’t leave his place that easily as he could be called back on work at any times. But even there, Illidan was barely talking about his brother, and it had been a surprise for Maiev that he knew so much about his brother’s family.

Maiev stopped the car in front of the house and looked at Illidan, already taking off the belt to be able to get out of the car, and she quickly put her hand on his arm to catch his attention.

“Illidan, don’t forget that your brother counts as public,” she reminded him as he looked at her. “So, do your best and don’t forget that I’m your bodyguard first and foremost. They can’t know about us.”

A shadow passed over his eyes as he had to admit that she was right. Until they would be back at his place, and safe behind the closed door, they were just in a professional relationship, and they had to throw everything else through the windows to protect both reputations. But he had been perfectly aware of what he was signing when he had decided to tell her about his feelings.

“Can I get at least one kiss before we leave the car?” he asked, already moving towards her as he put a hand over her face.

“One then,” she smiled as she closed the gap between them.

They kissed as Maiev kept an eye over the house, hoping that no one would look at them at that moment. But as nothing was happening, they slowly parted ways, smiling at each other. Slowly, they took a deep breath, and finally got out of the car. They walked towards the door, but before they could announce their presence, Illidan stopped Maiev.

“Wait, we’re going to play a prank on them,” he whispered. “Ring the bell, I’ll be hiding right there. Malf will be so confused.”

Saying that, he giggled and went to hide behind one of the corners of the walls, and Maiev only sighed as she shook her head. Yet, she had no other choice but to go to the front door and she rang, then, she waited, her arms crossed over her bust and glancing towards the hiding place of Illidan, slightly disappointed in his behavior. Finally, the door opened and Malfurion appeared on the porch, ready to welcome the newcomer, but as he saw the woman, he closed his mouth, frowning.

“Wait… Maiev? Is that you?” he asked as he hadn’t seen the woman since high school.

But before she could reply, Malfurion raised his hand as a way to tell her to stay silent and he quickly looked around. Then, he took out his phone and typed something on it before reaching his phone towards her.

“He’s hiding, isn’t it?” was written on the screen.

Maiev only nodded as a way to say yes, and Malfurion took back his phone to type on it again.

“His idea I guess?”

Once again, Maiev approved. Malfurion sighed deeply and rolled his eyes.

“Alright then, let’s act,” he added through his phone.

He quickly cleared his throat and then, talked again.

“How about that?” he falsely yelled. “Maiev? What are you doing here? I wasn’t expecting you but someone else…”

As if it had been a signal, Illidan finally jumped out of his hideout, smiling vividly as he spread his arms wide open.

“I was here all this time,” he proudly claimed.

Both Malfurion and Maiev looked at him with exasperation, while the brother was looking like he was really proud of his little prank.

“Illidan, just stop with that prank,” Malfurion said, shaking his head. “If you keep doing that, the next time, you’re staying out of the house.”

“Oh, come on!” he replied, rolling his eyes. “You would do the same if you were the one to visit.”

“You have no proof for that,” shrugged Malfurion. “Anyway, get inside.”

He moved from the door, showing the way to Illidan and Maiev, and she quickly thanked him as Illidan followed, his arms crossed and muttering about the fact that his prank had failed, even if Maiev was finding it really childish, even for Illidan. Yet, she would have sworn that as soon as Illidan passed in front of Malfurion, she saw the twin smiling as he closed the door behind them. They moved towards the kitchen, where Tyrande was busy making a cake for her daughter’s birthday, and as soon as she saw Illidan, she stopped what she was doing and went to him.

“Illidan! I’m glad that you could make it,” she laughed as she took him in her arms. “Shandris didn’t stop asking for when you would arrive, she would have been devastated if you couldn’t come.”

“Well, luckily, her birthday is on an off-season for filmmaking so it’s easier to get a day off. I wished it would be easier for the other events but well, we’ll have to do that in the meantime.”

As Tyrande got away from Illidan, she finally saw Maiev, awkwardly standing a few steps away as she was more than perfectly aware that she had never really had a good relationship with either of them when they were in high school. Tyrande frowned as she recognized the woman, really surprised to see her.

“Maiev?” she asked. “Maiev Shadowsong?”

Maiev opened her mouth to reply, but Illidan was faster and he moved backward to be next to them and he smiled wildly as he put an arm around her shoulders.

“Yes, she’s my bodyguard,” he proudly announced.

In the hallway behind them, Malfurion snickered.

“As if you needed a bodyguard,” he rolled his eyes, a grin on his face.

“Hey, that’s life when you are a famous actor,” explained Illidan. “People are envious and jealous.”

“And your face will meet with the tiled floor if you don’t remove your arm,” threatened Maiev.

Slowly, Illidan moved away his arm to cross them in front of his bust, pouting. Meanwhile, Malfurion went to the base of the stairs, and called after his daughter to warn her that her uncle was there. Immediately, they heard someone running in the stairs, and in the following second, the young girl was standing in the kitchen, bouncing on her feet as she noticed that indeed, Illidan was there.

“Hi!” she waved.

“Hi Shandris,” he replied. “Happy birthday!”

“Thanks! Did you bring the gifts?”

“Shandris!” Tyrande yelled. “They had just arrived and you didn’t even say hello to Maiev.”

At the call to order, the young girl lowered her head and looked away until her eyes locked on the bodyguard, and she timidly waved at the woman to say hello.

“Hi,” replied Maiev before looking at Tyrande. “Don’t worry, my job is to go unnoticed to protect my client better.”

“And I don’t mind her impatience,” quickly added Illidan, reaching inside his bag. “And yes, I have the gift for your birthday.”

Once again, a smile spread on the face of the young girl as Illidan reached a poster to her and the girl immediately took it and unfolded it to let place at one of the promotional posters of Illidan’s latest movie where he had gotten the first role, which he had signed. As Maiev saw that, she slowly shook his head.

“Do you have your phone with you?” asked Illidan to Shandris. “So we can add a selfie to it.”

Immediately, the girl took out her phone and went next to Illidan who crouched to be at her level, quickly passed his hands through his hair to make it look better and then, smiled as he put an arm around the shoulders of the girl, also smiling. As she looked at her phone, she put her hand in a fist and muttered a victorious word.

“You will see Luciel,” she smirked before looking back at Illidan. “Thank you a lot!”

And with those words, the young girl ran back towards the stairs to reach her bedroom. Meanwhile, Maiev kept shaking her head at Illidan, realizing with horror that he had only gifted things that were about him, and he was extremely disappointing her as she had thought that he had changed. The fact that neither the parents nor Shandris seemed to be bothered by those selfish gifts surprised Maiev the most. But Illidan quickly noticed the disappointing gaze and he realized that he hadn’t warned her about that.

“Before you say anything,” he quickly said, getting close to her to have a private conversation with her. “No, I didn’t choose those gifts myself. She was the one to ask for it because one of her friends at school decided to pretend that she was knowing me and it enraged her that when she tried to say that she was my niece, no one was believing her.”

“Ah… Teenagers,” groaned Maiev, yet somewhat feeling better with that explanation.

“And even then, this isn’t the only gift,” he continued, showing her a sealed envelope.

“Illidan!” Shandris suddenly yelled from above the stairs, interrupting them. “They still refuse to believe me unless you show up on a face meeting!”

Illidan sighed and shook his head, a faint smile across his face.

“Well, if you excuse me,” he told Maiev. “I need to defend my family’s honor.”

And with those words, he went towards the stairs, rubbing his hands together with a smirk as he began to imagine the reaction that a bunch of teenagers would have as he would really show up on the webcam of Shandris. Maiev only shook her head and moved towards the table of the kitchen, sitting awkwardly as she had nothing else to do.

“Do you want a coffee?” asked Tyrande, back to the preparation of the cake. “Or tea?”

“Coffee will be good,” smiled Maiev.

In a few minutes, the mug was in front of her and Tyrande continued her baking, as Maiev leisurely looked through the window, actually enjoying the place where they were living. It was so much calmer than the city, and when she realized that she still had to hear a siren, she smiled. But until Illidan would be done with his career, he wasn’t going to leave the busy city. After a few minutes, Malfurion entered the kitchen again and went to sit on the other side of the table.

“I set up the guest room,” he told her. “Unfortunately, we only have one, and with a twin bed, but with how Illidan insisted that you are only, and really only his bodyguard, I added a camp bed in the room.”

“Thanks,” she said, quickly bringing her mug to her lips, hiding the smile that was taking over her as she knew that there was no way that Illidan wouldn’t make them share the bed if they had to share the room.

Malfurion then, sighed a little and looked at the woman from the corner of his eyes.

“So… you’re his bodyguard, right?”

“I am,” replied Maiev, looking suspiciously at the man. “I have a license if you need proof.”

“Oh, I have no doubts that you are working as bodyguards,” quickly added Malfurion. “But I also know my brother… He told you, isn’t it? About his feelings?”

Maiev felt a blush taking over her face, as she hadn’t expected to be busted so quickly, even if Malfurion was saying nothing about them being a couple. Only that Illidan had finally admitted his long-time crush.

“You knew?” she could only ask, knowing that answering his question could only bring problems to her.

“Oh, almost since day one,” Malfurion laughed. “Even if I didn’t believe him when he admitted it. But after that, I’ve been supporting him and I tried to help him, even if he was sabotaging himself.”

“Sabotaging himself?”

“Oh yeah, I couldn’t tell you how many times he decided to tell you, always making elaborate plans to be alone with you and get to tell about his feelings… Then, you only had to smile at him, and he was completely losing it and he was unable to say anything.”

“Oh damn, I never noticed that,” Maiev frowned.

“And it was me who got him the picture from the Open Days, as I had a better contact with the teacher and that he was afraid that if he was the one to ask, it would bring uncomfortable questions.”

“Yeah, I was quite surprised to see it as his phone wallpaper,” smiled Maiev at the memories of that night, yet she decided to not tell the brother that they had changed it.

“I also remember the last day of high school,” sighed Malfurion. “He knew that it was his last chance as he didn’t know what you would do after it, and that he was leaving for his acting college far away from the house… He spent so many hours, walking in circles as he tried to convince himself that it was a good idea to talk to you one last time… At least to get your number.”

“I don’t remember that.”

“I know, by the time he was finally ready, you weren’t at school anymore and he wasted that chance,” the brother shrugged. “Those holidays had been awful for him as he didn’t even know anyone who would have your number, and who would be willing to give it to him. But once college had started, he had something else to think about and he went on with his life.”

“I would have never guessed that,” admitted Maiev, looking at her mug. “Though I cannot tell if I would have given him my number if we had met that day…”

Thinking about it, Maiev wondered what she had missed from that. If Illidan had talked to her that day, and that in some way, she had been convinced to give him her number, what could have happened? Would they have really stayed in contact? Talk every day? At what point would he finally admit his feelings? How would she have answered? And does it mean that they would have met again way earlier? Would have she fallen in love with him by that time? Just by thinking about all those missed opportunities, she felt the headache coming. It wasn’t the time to regret it, and she only needed to enjoy her life now without caring about the past.

“We are really glad that he got to meet you again,” said Tyrande, interrupting her thoughts. “We can see that he’s happier, and feeling better.”

“I’m not really responsible for that,” shrugged Maiev. “I’m just his bodyguard.”

“Well, just keep protecting him please,” said Malfurion, putting a hand over her arm.

She furrowed her eyebrows, finding the wording a little strange in the context, and she quickly glanced at the brother.

“You know, isn’t it?”

Malfurion sighed as he nodded.

“So, who takes the camp bed and who takes the bed?” asked Illidan.

Maiev looked sadly at the room, her mind busy with something else than trying to decide which bed to take, especially that she knew that none of them would stay in that camp bed for all the night, and even if she had always been the one to insist that they had to hide their relationship, she couldn’t be that person that night. She looked back at him as she grabbed his hand.

“No one,” she whispered.

Illidan raised an eyebrow, but Maiev was already dragging him to the bed, and she pulled him in it. As it was more often the inverse, Illidan simply smiled and followed the movement, laying down in the bed next to Maiev, who quickly threw her arms around him to hug him. She brought him as close as she could from her, and she buried her face in his neck as she needed to feel him, to know that he was there with her.

“Maiev, are you alright?” he asked, realizing that something was wrong. “Is it about the argument with Malfurion from earlier?”

“Shut up,” she groaned as she brought her face next to him. “Kiss me instead.”

And without waiting for him, she put her lips on his, and he immediately replied by kissing her back, and they stayed there, embraced and kissing. It was exactly what Maiev needed and she got extremely thankful that it was happening, and as Illidan’s hands went under her shirt to rub her back, she smiled.

Yes, she was going to protect him.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it!  
> Tomorrow: The shortest fic of the calendar. A little story to link BC and Legion that makes a little more sense.
> 
> See you tomorrow and every day until Christmas with a new fic!
> 
> \----  
> Unfortunately, English isn't my first language so if someone is interested in becoming my beta-reader for the language, hit me up on my Tumblr!  
> Or if you just want to talk about WoW, my fics, someone else fics, or anything, you can still hit me up there!
> 
> https://thewritingof-therose.tumblr.com/
> 
> or on Discord
> 
> https://discord.gg/nvKggwc (An Illidan/Maiev Discord)
> 
> Later!
> 
> (Comments are welcomed and appreciated :D)


End file.
